GL-MT3000 as client to Tailscale exit node: intermittent internet drops

Hi there

I am running a GL-MT3000 which is connected to a specific exit node on my tailnet. The exit node is approved; so client devices to GL-MT3000 properly have traffic forwarded through this exit node with no leaks detected.

The tailscale exit node is in a remote location from my VPN router. IP masquerading ALL on 0.0.0.0 is enabled via iptables; no trouble here.

DNS resolution was a little rusty at first but I dealt with this via manually setting the DNS server on the router to use encrypted 8.8.8.8. By rusty, I mean that DNS resolution was exceedingly slow; since I was relying on unbound on my exit node to resolve DNS queries from client devices for the vpn router. I resolved this fully yesterday.

My main issue right now is that client devices connected to the GL router will intermittently lose internet access. I've seen this a few times; and with another device connected to a different WAN (but still connected via tailscale), I can SSH to my exit node, perform ping, curl, and so on, so I don't think the WAN that my exit node relies on is to blame (it's a residential commercial ISP).

My main question is which diagnostic checks can I perform with my current topology? Other than verifying iptables, DNS resolution, SSH access, ICMP and so on from the exit node; how do I actually figure out what's causing the internet to drop intermittently like this? Do I probe the router someplace? Or from my client devices connected via WLAN to it? It's a bit of a head scratcher; but in its present state, these intermittent drops are no good. It's not just a few seconds; it drops for several minutes. This doesn't work for a lot of my use-cases.

Hello,

When this issue reproduced:

  1. In the router SSH, can it reachable: ping <tailscale exit node IP>?
  2. In the client of the router:
ping 8.8.8.8
curl https://ip.gs
curl https://www.gl-inet.cn
curl https://ip.me
curl https://www.gl-inet.com

how about the results?

  1. Connect a PC directly to WAN (same as the router WAN), and connect the exit node (same as the router selected exit node), how about the PC Internet? It just test if this WAN link works well.